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December 23, 2009

I am posting this recipe because I got quite a few requests for it when I reviewed Monica Bhide's latest book, Modern Spice. Monica's friend Vrinda cooks potatoes like this and so she calls them V's Ps!

When I first saw this recipe in the book, it looked a lot like one of the potato "curries" I make, so I'm very sure Monica's friend is a south Indian. My own version is traditional south Indian style of cooking potatoes and doesn't include garlic, but I have to say that garlic really adds to this recipe.

Monica says her friend Vrinda doesn't consider herself a "real" cook in the style of exotic, stylish and gourmet cooking.
I guess each of us has our own idea of what a "real" cook is, but like Monica I also think that anyone who puts in their effort and love into cooking up tasty and satisfying food is the "real" cook.

This is a very simple yet tasty way of cooking potatoes. I did change a few small things in the recipe when I made this for my convenience and to suit our taste. I am adding this in brackets wherever applicable, in a different colour.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

4 whole dried chillie

3 garlic cloves, crushed (1/2 tsp garlic paste)

1/2 kg (1 pound) baby potatoes, peeled and quartered

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

8 to 10 fresh curry leaves

2 tbsp minced cilantro

salt to taste

Method:

In a large lidded skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to crackle, add the red chillies.

Add the garlic and potatoes and sauté for about 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the turmeric and mix well. Add the curry leaves and cilantro and cook foe another minute.

Add the salt to taste and about 2 tbsps of water. Cover and cook over low heat until the potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

Serve hot. This recipe serves 4.

I made a couple of changes to the recipe in the cooking. I reduced the garlic a bit because we do not like the flavour of garlic too much; just a faint hint of it was fine for us.
I added the chopped cilantro at the end after the cooking was done.

I also cooked my potatoes in the microwave till they were just done and then added them to the pan. This meant that it took less time to cook up this dish and so I added just a splash of water instead of the 2 tbsp.

Now to the bit about the cookbook giveaway I had promised while celebrating 2 years of blogging. Before I get to that, I would like to thank everyone (including those of you who still didn't delurk) for encouraging me to continue writing and sharing my kitchen stories here.

Thank you also for all those lovely comments about my posts and pictures. Regarding the couple of suggestions, I have already been working on them. This blog should have a header (finally!) and a cleaner and less cluttered look by the New Year.

I have made this recipe many times and it is agreat accompaniment with dhals and kadhi.My mum used to deep fry the potatoes prior to stir frying them and resulted in lovely crispy out side and fluffy poatao insisde but due to health reasons I microwave potatoes before stir frying.